Russell Richards
Main Plot Role Russell is a Healer at St. Mungo's Hospital. He is one of the few remaining Healers within the magical world, posessing a talent that has all but died out from the gene pool of wizarding kind. Major Event Participation *Chameleon Dragon mishap & the subsequent burning of Diagon Alley (Something is Wrong is an Understatement) *Accromantula Attack on Hogwarts (Into the Forest...almost) *Cwm Y Dewin Cud ~ Burn it to the Ground ~ The Order of the Dragon's attack on the all wizarding village that the Minstry was opening, at its grand opening. (Cwm Y Dewin Cud ~ Burn it to the Ground) *Halloween Night on the Ship of Ghosts, when spirits of those who had been killed in creature wars of the past attempted to warn the key players in the upcoming war by visiting and possessing them, so that they would be prepared for what was to come. Those adults who were lured onto the ghost ship in this manner lived how those spirits died, were forced to see those they could not live without dead, and were forced to admit things they would otherwise never admit. (Ship of Ghosts) Basics Character's Full Name: Russell Durrell Richards Name's Meaning (Literal translation or folk meaning):'''His name wasn't picked due to its meaning or origins, but Russell's name meaning is 'reddish' and that could be likened to his liking of the reddish coloured liquors. Durrell means strong. '''Birthday: September 24th at 2:00 a.m. Astrological Sign: Libra ~ An air sign of the zodiac. Individuals with air signs tend to know a little 'something about everything' and be intelligent. Russell has his quirks but has picked up odd facts here and there, and is competent in magic, particularly healing magic. People of air signs can be philosophers, seers, priests, and have a connection with the supernatural. Given that Russell can commune with the dead (both magical and Muggle spirits) having an air sign seemed fitting. Place of Birth: Somewhere in Scotland but seeing as he grew up at a boy's home the exact location of birth is unknown. Eye Color: Brown Glasses needed?: For reading. Hair Color & Length: Brown, and it hangs just down in his eyes if not kept back with his bandana. It tends to be unruly. Build & Body Type: 5'10" tall and is in shape from working on his boat with regularity. He is not built like a person who spends excessive time in a gym by any means but merely has practical muscle useful to his leisure activities. Skin Tone: Lightly tanned. He gets lightly tanned from spending a lot of time on the water (his permanent residence is actually an old schooner that he is restoring and it has some small living quarters in it) but does not have the skin tone to get particularly dark (when he is even away from his boat for a few days off the water he gets back to being pale. Current residence: A run down schooner he purchased from an old man who was about to scrap it. He spent his childhood on boats (he attended a non-traditional schooling for boys on a schooner) so was naturally attracted to it. His schooner has some small living quarters on it and he is working on restoring it. However, he frequently forgets where he has moored it after nights where he's wound up possessed. Nationality: Scottish Native Language(s): English and Gaelic Accent Present? If so what accent?: Yes, a heavy Scottish accent that gets more pronounced when he is tired, coming out of a possessed state, or imbibing something of the alcoholic variety. Pets: None Wand (Wood, core, length, & types of magic that the wand is useful/not useful for): N/A Blood Status: Muggleborn. Social Class: Middle class. He works as a Healer incrementally bouncing from location to location, so while Healers make decent incomes, he frequently is between hospitals and the traveling from spot to spot depletes savings he does have. Fortunately he lives frugally. Places the Character has lived: He's been on boats as far North as Norway and as far South as Australia. Pretty much various places along the Western coast of Europe and islands there, places along the African coastline, and places along the South American coastline. He has never been to the Eastern side of Asia or to the Western coast of North or South America however. The Western side North America and the Caribbean he has stopped at on a boat merely for refueling/re-supplying on a handful of occasions. Special Talents/Skills: He is very good at navigating boats at sea, repairing things the Muggle way (by hand), and is adept at Healing magic. An unfortunate talent is that he is an excellent medium that Muggle and magical ghosts can enter, and they can talk through him, talk to him, take control of him, and fight him for control of his own body and thoughts. This frequently happens because ghosts have unfinished business they want him to help take care of, and this can range from a randy teenage boy's spirit being angry that he died a virgin (Apologies good Nova, lass!) to a chat with their elderly husband that they never got to say goodbye to, to going to visit a location they never got to see during their actual life. Mannerisms or Habits: *He makes lots of hand gestures, and is frequently holding up his hand and wiggling it, waggling it, making wave-like-motions with it, tipping it back and forth, and so forth to indicate various states of well being, like feeling topsy-turvey, off-kilter, unbalanced, and so forth. *Adjusts his bandana when it slides down his forehead. *After being possessed his head tends to hurt a lot and he feels very disoriented, so he tends to teeter back and forth a lot when sitting down afterwards. He will actually appear either hungover or drunk post possession, and may not always know exactly where he is. Usually a shot of some kind of liquor will balance him out for some reason, his logic is that the "spiritly sorts" don't like having to compete with other spirits for predominance of his brain. *Tends to wander around a lot and enjoy the scenery without really having any set destination in mind. *He is horrible with land directions but is very good with sea navigation. *Can sleep in extremely odd and uncomfortable positions, so can sleep pretty much anywhere and frequently will find that he sleeps better not on a bed. He sleeps best on a boat, or in a hammock. Childhood Background Mother: He doesn't know who she is. Father: He doesn't know who he is. Siblings: He doesn't know if he has any. Why Unknown?: Russell, for whatever reason, was placed within a boy's home very early on. He has precious few memories of his mother and father, and is not even certain that they are indeed actual memories as opposed to the mind's usual fabrications of memories that take place around that age. Quite often individuals will actually, due to having a strong desire to remember something, create memories they do not have. An example of this is that it has been found that many individuals will believe they remember having witnessed incidents, and they will strongly believe this, that they were actually not even present for, at young ages! Why is this? Because they have heard the stories about the incident so many times growing up that they create a very vivid portrait within their mind. And what child would not have some desire, after hearing stories about what other children do or do not remember about their parents, to remember their family they no longer remember? Quite often in orphanages children given up will fabricate memories of remembering parents, doing things with them, that were impossible even if they were given up at birth. (Fun mind fact for you). Whether his few memories are true or not remains to be seen.. Other Relatives? N/A Childhood Friends: There were seven other boys aboard the schooner that Russell was educated on once he was removed from the boy's home by a 'wizarding good Samaritan' who never stepped forward to identify themselves. Russell obviously got quite close to these other boys however as an adult they have drifted some due to the demands of the working world. These individuals and the teaching schooner's Captain and teachers 'on deck' were his friends and family growing up. Best Memory of Family: Many! Worst Memory of Family: Graduating from the alternative educational program at 17 and having to leave the schooner to set out on his own. It was both a good and bad memory. Hometown Atmosphere: His home 'port' was in Scotland, in Glasgow. Childhood Room Appearance: He shared a cramped bunk room with three other boys. A netting hung over a wall to keep the things mounted to the wall in place and from falling off in inclement weather, the floor, walls, and ceiling were obviously made of aged, water treated wood, and it had a perpetual scent of saltwater to it. Schooling Russell was not educated at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry but by an alternative educational program on a schooner. One of the teachers on board, a wizard, ensured that he was taught the basics of a wizarding education and he was taught mostly Charms, Astronomy, History of Magic, Ancient Runes, Arithmacy, and Divination. These subjects were safe to teach him out on open water and could easily be done out of sight of the other boy's (all Muggles) in the Captain's quarters. Ancient Runes was studied from examples out of a chest of them, Arithmacy out of books and from number tablets, Astronomy on deck, History of Magic through dictation and out of books charmed to look like mathematical analyses, and Charms carefully taught in the Captain's quarters. When it came to DADA, Herbology, Transfiguration, and Potions there was little other than 'book work' that could be taught to him on such a cramped vessel for safety purposes. As a result while Russell, when asked, can identify the properties of various potions and magical plants, he had no idea how to make any potions or what the plants actually looked like in person upon graduation. His teacher did his best to show him different magical plants when they docked, but that was about it. He began teaching himself those things as an adult, and learned just enough to take a NEWT in those courses around 23 years of age to apply to be a Healer and get his licensure. However, those remain his very weak subjects. The other subjects were safe to teach him on the water, while these were not. After all, having him accidentally transfigure an anchor in the middle of the room and punch a hole in the boat's bottom would not be desirable, nor would a lesson in defense if it resulted in punching a hole in the side of the ship! Favorite Class & Why: Astronomy ~ He loves navigating by the night sky. Least Favorite & Why Class: DADA ~ On account he never used it before. OWL Scores by Class: He took none. NEWT Scores by Class: He sat NEWTs upon graduation and received the following scores: Charms ~ E Astronomy ~ O History of Magic ~ O Ancient Runes ~ O Arithmacy ~ O Divination ~ E At 23 he sat NEWTs for Herbology and Potions and received the following scores: Herbology ~ E Potions ~ E Adult Background Relationship Status/Married? Single ~ Betrothed to Miley Campbell due to the Ministry of Magic's Arranged & Enforced Marriages Update: Married as of Dragon Year 5 Spouse/Significant Other's Name: Apparently Miley Campbell It's not exactly willing so Russell wouldn't know if he should call her significant other, betrothed, or the 'poor lass' though. Update: Miley Jessie Katrina Campbell (now Richards) - Russ is convinced the poor lass is addled for taking his name. Best Memory of Family as an Adult: Russell doesn't have any biological family that he knows of. The family that he does have are all Muggles but one, and they all were boys or the teachers he was schooled with or by on a schooner growing up. They have all scattered about the world now though. Worst Memory of Family as an Adult: He doesn't have any.. Enemies: He doesn't have any (that he knows of) though he is quite convinced that Miss Maia Corvus fancies him an incompetent Healer sod. Career Career: Healer for all wards. Job Description: Heals the wizarding public and Muggles hurt by magic that get drug into St. Mungo's. Also, looking after his accident prone wife he'd consider nearly a full time job as well. ;) Job Satisfaction: Russell loves healing though he thinks that many wizarding healing methods make things unnecessarily complicated. He also thinks the same of Muggle healing, and thinks that the simplest 'healing solution' should always be used, Muggle or magical, even if it is not the quickest, to minimize stress upon the body. Coworkers: He doesn't really know much about his coworkers at St. Mungo's asides from their names. Others who work at St. Mungo's that he's seen in action though are Taryn James, Maia Corvus, and Carter Phillips as a result of the acromantula attack at Hogwarts. Income Level: Healers are paid pretty decently so while Healers would be well off/upper middle class due to their income, Russell is middle class because he works intermittingly, on account of his 'being possessed by spirit’s a bit too frequently.' It makes holding down a steady FT gig a bit difficult so he tends to bounce from wizarding hospital to wizarding hospital along with Muggle ones. Plus, if he remains in one location too long ghosts catch on that someone they can possess is there, and kind of all hoard him at once, so that forces him to leave certain locations, and thus his current job, to move on for his own sanity (he's found that ghosts do not really possess him when he's out on the water). Dependent on job's income or do they have other wealth? Russell gets by with what he makes healing at wizarding hospitals and by working at various Muggle clinics and hospitals. Previous Careers: Sailing though that isn't really a career, but he could teach people how to do handle boats and restore them just fine. Dream Job: Healing, he's doing exactly what he likes to do, though he'd love to be able to be the assigned healer to a schooner taking kids around for the same kind of alternative education that he had. Water + Healing + Teaching kids about healing, first aide, and sailing = win for him! Will they get it? Why or why not? Doubtful on account that's not too conducive to him continuing to RP with Mungo's coworkers. Memorable Quotes Tossing the wench who fancied herself a helpful lass another bleary look, he considered the point she made again. "A good night," he finally said, grabbing up the drink set on the table by the rather disgruntled looking bar man right then, "depends on the outcome." He gave her a cheers with the glass, the amber liquid nearly sloshing over the side - nearly being a good thing given it meant his coordination was a bit better than it ordinarily was - right before he slung it back into his mouth and down his awaiting throat. Russell swallowed and shook his head as it burned and woke him more, slamming the thing down. "Of which," he continued, "I cannot remember either." ~ from Mind Telling Me What City I'm In Lass? . "Aye lass, too many rums over the course of a night and you find yourself agreeing to all kinds of wagers of the disreputable sort including but not limited to imbibing bits of petrol. Particularly in disreputable sorts of ports off Cuba." Speaking of Cube he remembered something about Cuban cigars…~ from Mind Telling Me What City I'm In Lass? "Aye lass! I've had a bit of an epiphany in regards to the portions of my evening, and I must follow up before the thoughts," giving a hand motion to indicate fluttering out of his head, "flutter away. It was a jovial, gleeful delight to meet you though lass, and you are more than welcome of course to choke down the remnants of my rum with those eggs." ~ from Mind Telling Me What City I'm In Lass? The riggings were strung, nets hung awry, icicles knocked away, the keel still there, the fore-and-aft sails in line, deck's weather worn boards polished to a shine with the snow kicked off, and the forward mast reasonably repaired to a reasonably safe sailing condition! Wiping his hands on his pants - which he'd actually been able to find below deck under a nigh capsized crate he'd used for the generation of ballast when sailing into particularly windy ports! - Russell gave the slightly frozen weather deck and the surrounding bridge a once over before tipping his eighteenth century pirate's hat down on his head, a bit of snow falling off of it, and giving it all a second over, then on the third over he gave the entire vessel a bit of a grin. "Aye lass you clean up nicely when scrubbed proper!" ~ from Found Where I Moored It Lass (talking to his schooner) The owl promptly plunked its beak into his concoction, splattering Russell just a jolly bit, and lifted one of its legs out to him pointedly while slurping. Giving a mighty, "Ah ha!" he made a grab at the letter and carefully, with all the refinement of a sailor on his third imbibement of a festively laced glass of piping hot holiday cheer, plucked the letter from the owl's leg and proceeded to read it. And then read it again. And gave it a good squint. Then, with an elaborate hand gesture Russell flipped the letter over, read it again that way, made many appropriately jolly and thoughtful sounds while reading it that way, which took him a considerably longer amount of time, before finally looking over the tippity top of the letter and giving Miss Miley Wait What a considering look, and then waving his letter to her. "Aye! Hello there Miss Miley Campbell I believe since that good gent over there," giving the good bar server a bit of a wave, he continued on, "said as such if I do believe my ears to be in good functioning," sticking a finger in his ear and giving it a bit of a twist to be sure, he continued, "I do believe I am in some decently sort of way supposed to propose to you and marry you by-" Pausing and holding up one finger, the bells on the one side of his bandana jingling, he stuck his one hand into his pocket with a flourish, yanking out a pair of reading spectacles. Then he put them on, flipped the official Ministry notice the right side up, and gave it a speculative re-read before pronouncing to all, "By the thirty first! As ordered by some form of Ministry mandate of sorts! Now lass what say you-" Stopping as the owl plucked its beak out of his beverage all of a sudden, giving a drunken sort of owl squawk, he gave the owl a consideringly thoughtful look, gave its head a pat, only for it to blearily tip right on over. Aye well the owl would be fine. Reclaiming his piping hot mug of seasonal cheer he had been sharing with the now drunk owl he took another drink of it, and finally swallowed and settled on proclaiming, "Aye lass what are your thoughts on our apparent prison time for violation of the statue as opposed to telling me how you would best like to make an acquaintance to avoid such dilemma, on account this owl of sorts here most definitely will not be able to stand up straight in a cell." ~ from Shift of Gears There were a considerable number of…er…fellows, in black masks and cloaks, with some kind of glittery thing going on, and Russell had half a mind to squeak and jump back behind the crate. But he did not, on account they appeared to be blowing things up, and there were wee ones running around! "Aye! AYE YOU!" Russell gave a shout in the nearest mask's direction. "Stop that right now! THERE ARE WE ONES HERE!" ~ from MP ~ Burn it to the Ground Regardless, there was now a dragon looking at them, and Russell was torn between that and celebrating the fact that he was rather on top of his pretty wife-lass. "Aye lass, not that I am in a particular hurry to move from this rather enjoyable," gesturing quickly at how they were, "position, but there's your heroics out of me, I fall rather short after that asides from a 'lets cast a fire repellant charm on ourselves and attempt to hobble through the building rather than get eaten,' and thus that is me requesting an amicable plan if ye have one before this rather hungry, toothy, scaley sort of fellow decides to eat us." ~ from MP ~ Burn it to the Ground Friends & Relationships Russell isn't the most social of blokes, having only been social with those who he grew up with upon the schooner, and even those 'boys' he doesn't see very often (on account most of them are Muggles, like him they all became sailors, and because Russell has to continuely move about to avoid the ghoss). However he does find Derrick Halliwell to be a likeable fellow, and Emma Hope to be a likeable lass. He is married to Miley Richards, so is completely fine with her pulling him about like a pup on a leesh to be around whoever she likes. Whoever she likes, he likes be defaults, because as much as he groans he trusts her judgement.